How Great Decisions Get Made: 10 Easy Steps for Reaching Agreement on Even the Toughest Issues

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"A blessing for anyone who hates meetings (who doesn't)- the art of team decision making"

Lauren Brown, President, Promega Biosciences, Inc. and 2003 Socially Reponisble Entrepreneur Award Winner
"Don Maruska's insights and practical guidance helped our business through a critical transition phase."

Mike Pool, California State Director, U.S. Bureau of Land Management
"The ten-step process works!This approach is building lasting value for our organization,the resources we manage, and the public we serve."

From the Foreword by Margaret J. Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science
"You're about to engage in a wonderful discovery ... feels like for people to work together to find true solutions."

Steve Westly, California State Controller and former Senior V.P., eBay
"This book is full of keen insights and practical techniques to bring out the best in people and get results."

Bill Hall, Exec. V.P., Duke Power
"This is a must-have tutorial for any business seeking methods to create and sustain high performance teamwork."

Michael Ray, author of Creativity in Business and professor emeritus, Stanford Business School
"This is a book that you will go back to again and again."

James A. Barry, Jr.CFP®, international financial advisor, author and PBS television host of Jim Barry's Financial Success
"A MUST READ"

John Steinhart, Silicon Valley management consultant and former director of the Stanford Sloan Program for Executives
"Don Maruska's book offers a refreshing perspective and an important process that people urgently need."

Richard Armfield, KSBY TV, an NBC affiliate
Don has demonstrated effectiveness of his 10-step process in televised sessions with elected officials and diverse groups gaining important breakthroughs.

Book Description
Foreword by Meg Wheatley. All too often, solving tough work issues can become a tug of war as clashing departments, priorities, personality styles, and other concerns threaten to destroy any possibility of a successful conclusion. But by sharing hopes, and focusing on information rather than debate, the path to agreement can become wonderfully clear. How Great Decisions Get Made. shows how to bring out the best in people, so that the process of decision making cements groups together rather than pulling them apart. The book gives readers a simple 10-step process to help their people overcome seemingly intractable differences, paving the way for groups to: * Embrace a world view filled with the possibility of creating better results together * Shift their attention from the stale "What should we do?" to a fresh "How can we achieve what we really want?" attitude * Tap into who they are to define and articulate their hopes Readers looking for quick, exciting ways to energize their often contentious decision-making process will find all the help they need, from real-life scenarios showing the process in action to a self-assessment checklist. How Great Decisions Get Made provides the key to overcoming barriers, making people feel great about the work they do, and achieving extraordinary results.

Book Info
Text presents a 10-step process for reaching true agreement, nurturing genuine commitment from all concerned, and moving toward the fulfillment of shared hopes. DLC: Group decision making.

From the Inside Flap
HARDCOVER JACKET COPY—FLAPS How Great Decisions Get Made 10 Easy Steps for Reaching Agreement on Even the Toughest Issues Don Maruska "Don Maruska's well-tested process makes it possible to reach high-quality decisions based on accessing everyone's good thinking and greatest hopes. He has found the means to bring out people's best qualities—their intelligence, their caring, their commitment. His process isn't a new fad piled on top of existing ones. It is a restoration of what has worked through time for people everywhere." —from the Foreword by Margaret J. Wheatley In trying to resolve a challenging business issue, twenty people are likely to offer twenty (or more) different approaches. Rational discussion may eliminate some of the less viable choices. But what do you do when you reach the inevitable impasse where diametrically opposed opinions, voiced by passionate and intelligent professionals, block any chance of real progress? Conventional wisdom holds that when an irresistible force meets an immovable object, one should expect sparks. But Don Maruska has developed a practical and universally applicable 10-step process for reaching true agreement, nurturing genuine commitment from all concerned, and moving toward the fulfillment of shared hopes. Proven through more than a decade of successful implementations at Fortune 500 and high-growth companies, Maruska’s methodology includes: · Enlisting everyone and discovering shared hopes—by inviting hidden talent you avoid creating enemies and multiply your chances of success. · Uncovering the real issues behind the disagreement, laying out all options, and gathering the right information—using shared hopes as your lens, you can "see the whole tree before going out on a limb." · Getting everything on the table, writing down choices that support shared hopes, and mapping solutions—by taking the guesswork out of decision making, it becomes clear which solution among multiple alternatives will generate the best outcome. · Looking ahead and staying charged up—monitoring the effects of decisions and making adjustments as necessary ensures that initial successes are sustainable and repeatable, while celebrating progress recognizes the contributions of each member and renews hope for further progress. Maruska follows these steps with six strategies to choose from and customize to your particular needs and limitations, from the "30-minute miracle," to solving logistical challenges with "e-teams," to building trust through the dissolution of long-standing differences. You’ll even learn how to solve problems in very large groups. The philosophical logjams that paralyze your organization’s best efforts are actually the products of good minds thinking differently. How Great Decisions Get Made reveals not how they can think alike, but how they can act as one. HARDCOVER JACKET COPY—BACK COVER General Business/Management How Great Decisions Get Made 10 Easy Steps for Reaching Agreement on Even the Toughest Issues Don Maruska "How Great Decisions Get Made provides a wonderful recipe for resolving tough issues. Its clear steps and engaging stories guide readers to great results. You'll want everyone on your team to have this valuable book." --Jack Canfield, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work and The Power of Focus "Businesses, government agencies, and communities need better tools to resolve the tough issues they face. Don Maruska draws upon a wealth of experience and success in each of these areas. This book is full of keen insights and practical techniques to bring out the best in people and get results. I highly recommend it." --Steve Westly, California State Controller and former Senior Vice President, eBay "Don Maruska provides valuable insights and tools to help teams struggling to define themselves, and his method works! This is a must-have tutorial for any business seeking methods to create and sustain high performance teamwork." --Bill Hall, Executive Vice President, Duke Power "Finally, a book that show us, in a practical, engaging and tested way, how we can develop both teams and individuals in a way that will work for us all. This is a book that you will go back to again and again." --Michael Ray, author of Creativity in Business and professor emeritus, Stanford Business School "Getting people to agree on anything without hurting feelings or making major mistakes is always a difficult path to navigate. Maruska’s book makes the process a much easier one. A must read!" --James A. Barry, Jr., CFP®, international financial advisor, author and PBS television host of Jim Barry’s Financial Success "As a direct participant, I've appreciated how Don Maruska's process provided a constructive and highly productive way to resolve divisive issues. It's worked wonders to bring warring factions together on multiple projects, including education and natural resources. This is much-needed guidance for government and community organizations." --Shirley Bianchi, Board of Supervisors, San Luis Obispo County, California

About the Author
Don Maruska guides Fortune 500 companies, growth businesses, government agencies, and communities to solve tough issues through a unique process of decision making. He draws from his wide-ranging experience as CEO of three Silicon Valley companies, vice-president of marketing for the company that became E*Trade, and work as a consultant and as a Master Certified Coach. Don earned an AB from Harvard and an MBA and JD from Stanford University, and now lives on the shores of Morro Bay, California.


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Don Maruska's ten-step process has been a godsend for our business. Using it, we found a path that dramatically multiplied our growth, profitability, teamwork, and personal satisfaction. It's been a grand slam home run for us! Buy this book and enjoy the results. (CEO, Thoma Electric and 1997 Citizen of the Year) — Bill Thoma


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